Unlocking the Potential of Inclusive Governance for Urban Transformation
The intersecting challenges of rapid urbanization, growing inequality, and climate change require new modes of urban governance that can enable transformative change. Cities are increasingly recognized as critical hubs for addressing these global sustainability challenges, but many struggle to include the voices and needs of the urban poor in climate adaptation and risk reduction efforts. Inclusive governance, which actively engages marginalized communities, has emerged as a vital component of building transformative capacity for urban sustainability.
Drawing on case studies from Battambang, Cambodia and cities in South Africa, this article explores how strengthening transformative capacities through inclusive governance can empower the urban poor and lead to more equitable and resilient urban development outcomes. By centering the everyday realities, priorities, and governance practices of marginalized communities, cities can catalyze the social, institutional, and systemic changes necessary for sustainable transformation.
Elevating Community Voices and Needs
Sustainable urban transformation requires deeply understanding the lived experiences and local knowledge of the urban poor. In Battambang, Cambodia, the municipality’s inclusive approach to waste management reform enabled community participation and trust-building across diverse stakeholders. The city empowered local Sangkat (sub-district) officials to lead the transformation, while also proactively engaging informal waste workers, predominantly women, in the design of the Waste Management Masterplan.
This community-centered process contrasts sharply with the top-down, technocratic approaches that often characterize urban planning and climate adaptation in the Global South. As one Battambang official noted, “We have a public forum, so the residents can talk about their feedback and their perspectives on the waste management.” By creating spaces for open dialogue, the municipality was able to better understand local priorities, like the need for electricity access, and integrate them into the reform agenda.
Similarly, in the South African case studies, local governments sought to meaningfully engage with the urban poor on climate adaptation. In Green Park informal settlement in Cape Town, the settlement leader Raymond negotiated directly with city officials, strategically leveraging both formal and informal channels to secure critical services like flood mitigation and electricity. In the FLOW program in Piketberg, a cohort of youth “ambassadors” from low-income communities provided a direct conduit for municipal collaboration, sharing their perspectives on local challenges and proposed solutions.
These examples demonstrate that inclusive governance is not about simply consulting communities, but about actively co-creating visions and pathways for urban transformation that center the needs and capacities of the most marginalized. As the municipal manager in Piketberg reflected, the FLOW ambassadors “are not afraid to lift their hand and say ‘hear me’ and then 60 people will quiet down and listen to them. We never had youth like that before.”
Empowering Intermediaries and Diverse Governance Modes
Achieving inclusive governance requires supporting the leadership and agency of community-based intermediaries who can bridge the divide between marginalized groups and formal institutions. In Battambang, committed organizations like COMPED played a vital role as knowledge brokers, facilitating collaboration between the municipality, civil society, and international partners. Their long-term, place-based engagement built trust and enabled the co-creation of the city’s Waste Management Masterplan.
Similarly, in the South African cases, individuals like Raymond in Green Park and the FLOW coordinator Ian demonstrated the power of “idiosyncratic leadership” – leveraging their local knowledge and social networks to catalyze change. As an intermediary embedded in the community, Raymond was able to subvert formal planning processes to meet resident priorities, while the FLOW coordinator cultivated the agency and participation of youth ambassadors in local governance.
These intermediaries did not simply translate between different stakeholders, but actively shaped the terrain of urban transformation by introducing new ideas, mobilizing resources, and reconfiguring power dynamics. Wolfram’s framework on urban transformative capacities highlights the vital role of such “hybridized” governance arrangements that blend formal and informal, centralized and decentralized, approaches.
In Battambang, the municipality strategically partnered with civil society organizations, local universities, and international agencies to expand the diversity of voices and knowledge informing the waste reforms. This multi-stakeholder model enabled joint problem-solving, shared learning, and the co-production of contextually-relevant solutions. Similarly, the FLOW program in South Africa used a transdisciplinary, experimental approach to build the capacity of youth, local government, and other stakeholders.
By embracing diverse governance modes, cities can unlock the transformative potential of inclusive collaboration. As the Battambang municipality noted, “there is no need to be formal always. Just connect informally” – a sentiment that resonates with the growing emphasis on hybrid, adaptive, and polycentric governance models for sustainability transitions.
Catalyzing Systemic Change through Inclusive Governance
Inclusive governance is not just about making urban planning and climate adaptation more participatory. At its core, it is about fundamentally transforming the systems, power structures, and narratives that have excluded the urban poor. The cases from Battambang and South Africa demonstrate how strengthening transformative capacities through inclusive governance can enable a shift towards more equitable, resilient, and sustainable urban futures.
In Battambang, the municipality’s inclusive approach to waste reform catalyzed changes across multiple dimensions. It empowered local officials and residents to take ownership of waste services, built trust between the government and community, and unlocked resources and technical assistance from diverse partners. Critically, these incremental changes also set the stage for more systemic transformations, such as the municipality’s integration of digital technologies, enforcement of new waste regulations, and adoption of a “clean city” vision.
Similarly, the FLOW program in Piketberg, South Africa, went beyond narrow climate adaptation goals to holistically address the social, economic, and ecological challenges facing marginalized youth. By strengthening the agency and voice of this group, the program catalyzed shifts in local government mindsets and practices, as the municipal manager noted: “The Council saw the big change in the ambassadors and renewed their commitment to youth development.”
These cases illustrate how inclusive governance can be a powerful lever for urban transformation. By centering the perspectives and priorities of the urban poor, cities can redesign infrastructure, services, and policies to be more equitable and sustainable. Equally important, inclusive governance processes can transform the underlying power dynamics, narratives, and institutional cultures that perpetuate urban injustice and vulnerability.
Conclusion: Towards Inclusive, Resilient, and Sustainable Cities
The experiences of Battambang and cities in South Africa offer important lessons for strengthening transformative capacities through inclusive urban governance. Key insights include:
- Elevating the everyday realities, priorities, and local knowledge of the urban poor as the foundation for climate adaptation and sustainability planning.
- Empowering community-based intermediaries who can bridge divides, mobilize resources, and reconfigure power dynamics.
- Embracing diverse governance modes that blend formal and informal, centralized and decentralized approaches to enable more inclusive collaboration.
- Catalyzing systemic change by transforming the underlying systems, narratives, and power structures that exclude marginalized urban communities.
As cities worldwide grapple with the interlinked challenges of inequality, climate change, and unsustainable development, inclusive governance emerges as a critical lever for unlocking transformative change. By centering the voices and capacities of the urban poor, municipalities can co-create more equitable, resilient, and sustainable urban futures.
The lessons from Battambang, Cambodia and South Africa highlight the immense potential – and the urgency – of empowering marginalized communities as partners in the quest for urban sustainability. This is not just a moral imperative, but a practical necessity for building the transformative capacities cities need to thrive in the 21st century.
